“You grow more from the most challenging offenses –
the ones for which you have not been trained.”
John Bevere – The Bait of Satan (Page 144)
From Grace to Grace
“He who has begun a good work in you
will complete it until
the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
There are times that I feel very ‘incomplete’
and wonder how God will ever
finish His work in me...
So often I stumble and fall, if only in my thoughts.
I know God’s Word to be true
and I believe what He says;
yet, I ponder the thought of my being “Holy”...
I understand the proclamation,
but wonder about the fulfillment of His promise.
In the years working as an educator I had the opportunity to work on the building committee for a new elementary school building.
I had the privilege of assisting
in the planning for the design and equipping of the new school
I remember distinctly, all the studies, plans, and meetings.
Then it was proclaimed...
“We will build a new elementary school.”
More planning, more meetings, more deliberations..
it seemed an endless process.
Then came the ground breaking, and a wave of excitement...
then… more meetings, more planning, more deliberations and concessions.
I recall standing on the front porch of the old school building and
looking across the road and trying to see some evidence
of what I had hoped for; but the building seemed to take forever and was not complete.
Between the proclamation and the product
there was an exhaustive process
(some of which has been painful, and hard to understand.)
I remember the verbal battles over the auditorium, the swimming pool, the greenhouse and the many hundreds of other details.
The same is true of our spiritual walk.
Between God’s proclamation and His product lies His process.
In the same manner once we have grasped God’s proclamation for our lives, we must be enabled by His Spirit to embrace His process - the Cross; where our flesh and low thinking must die that we might live the resurrected life of Christ in us. This process is critical in the establishment of His character in us… His progressive changing us by His grace so that the Christ-likeness (Love, Peace, Joy and Righteousness ect.) can be seen by the world around us
All of this is so that others might see the Christ in us and be drawn to Him.
Most of us delight in the proclamation
and look forward to the demonstration of His product,
but few of us enjoy His divine process.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,” the Word says,
“but the Lord delivers them out of them all...”
In His time, we will rejoice in the holy product He has birthed in us!
If God declares that He sees us as pure and holy,
there is an incumbent responsibility on our part
to enter into that purity and holiness.
There will be a need for putting off of some old sinful habits and taking on of righteousness.
If we are to walk in confidence and success, we must embrace the process… Let’s us be patient as He puts us back again on the potters wheel.
From grace to grace…
30
fkj
the ones for which you have not been trained.”
John Bevere – The Bait of Satan (Page 144)
From Grace to Grace
“He who has begun a good work in you
will complete it until
the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
There are times that I feel very ‘incomplete’
and wonder how God will ever
finish His work in me...
So often I stumble and fall, if only in my thoughts.
I know God’s Word to be true
and I believe what He says;
yet, I ponder the thought of my being “Holy”...
I understand the proclamation,
but wonder about the fulfillment of His promise.
In the years working as an educator I had the opportunity to work on the building committee for a new elementary school building.
I had the privilege of assisting
in the planning for the design and equipping of the new school
I remember distinctly, all the studies, plans, and meetings.
Then it was proclaimed...
“We will build a new elementary school.”
More planning, more meetings, more deliberations..
it seemed an endless process.
Then came the ground breaking, and a wave of excitement...
then… more meetings, more planning, more deliberations and concessions.
I recall standing on the front porch of the old school building and
looking across the road and trying to see some evidence
of what I had hoped for; but the building seemed to take forever and was not complete.
Between the proclamation and the product
there was an exhaustive process
(some of which has been painful, and hard to understand.)
I remember the verbal battles over the auditorium, the swimming pool, the greenhouse and the many hundreds of other details.
The same is true of our spiritual walk.
Between God’s proclamation and His product lies His process.
In the same manner once we have grasped God’s proclamation for our lives, we must be enabled by His Spirit to embrace His process - the Cross; where our flesh and low thinking must die that we might live the resurrected life of Christ in us. This process is critical in the establishment of His character in us… His progressive changing us by His grace so that the Christ-likeness (Love, Peace, Joy and Righteousness ect.) can be seen by the world around us
All of this is so that others might see the Christ in us and be drawn to Him.
Most of us delight in the proclamation
and look forward to the demonstration of His product,
but few of us enjoy His divine process.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,” the Word says,
“but the Lord delivers them out of them all...”
In His time, we will rejoice in the holy product He has birthed in us!
If God declares that He sees us as pure and holy,
there is an incumbent responsibility on our part
to enter into that purity and holiness.
There will be a need for putting off of some old sinful habits and taking on of righteousness.
If we are to walk in confidence and success, we must embrace the process… Let’s us be patient as He puts us back again on the potters wheel.
From grace to grace…
30
fkj
No comments:
Post a Comment